About 50 members of the Save the Train coalition from Northwest Philadelphia staged a traveling rally to Harrisburg on Monday, boarding an Amtrak train to advocate for the Chestnut Hill West regional rail line's survival in their meetings with state legislators.

Senators Nikil Savel and Art Haywood, along with Representatives Tarik Khan and Steven Kinsey came along on the trip, and Haywood, Khan, and Kinsey addressed a press conference in the Rotunda at 10 am.

The coalition is working to save the Chestnut Hill West regional rail line, which is likely to be the first on the chopping block if Governor Josh Shapiro’s current budget proposal to close a $240 million funding gap for the region’s transit network does not pass.

But they’re also working to awareness about the value of public transit, and the need to “use it or lose it.”

“We need to save the train, yes, and we also need to increase ridership,” said Anne Dicker, a West Mt. Airy Neighbors board member and a coalition organizer.  “We visited the offices of every single Representative and Senator.” 

Four high school students also joined the group, including 13-year-old Alice Dicker and 11-year-old Nina Winter.

The Chestnut Hill West line consistently ranks among those with the lowest ridership. 

If Shapiro’s SEPTA funding does not pass, the agency would almost certainly enact a series of service cuts and fare increases. That would lead to decreased ridership, a process known in the industry as a “death spiral,” according to SEPTA’s CEO and General Manager Leslie Richards. 

SEPTA’s Chief Communications Officer Bill Webster has told the Local that “nothing has been decided” yet in terms of what rail lines would be cut. But he did say that the transit agency would be looking at a 20% cut in service on all modes – not just Regional Rail, but buses, trolleys and the subway – if the funding isn’t procured.